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Book a Week 2011 - Week forty-one


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Continuing my spooky/creepy reading theme for this month, I've started Judgment of Tears: Anno Dracula 1959. This is actually the 3rd book of a series; my library doesn't have the first two books, so I'm trying this one. If I enjoy it, I may try to track down copies of the first two.

 

I just read the part where I got introduced to a James Bond-ish vampire. :lol:

 

 

From Publishers Weekly:

 

"Newman's latest monster mash is the third in a series of fiendishly clever novels (after Anno Dracula and The Bloody Red Baron) set in a world where Dracula lives and the glitterati of history, fiction and film are all his vampire progeny. It's 1959, and the jet set in Rome is aflutter over the impending nuptials of the aging Count, who hopes to consolidate his crumbling kingdom through marriage to the Moldavian princess Asa Vajda. Vampire journalist (and series heroine) Kate Reed is on the scene when a serial killer, the Crimson Executioner, commits the first in a string of brutal vampire slayings that will lead inevitably to Dracula himself. Kate's relentless pursuit of the mysterious murderer acquaints her with Mater Lachrymarum, the city's legendary "Mother of Tears," and a social register of mortal and vampire celebrities, any one of whom could be the assassin. Newman's tale of the decline of the vampire empire exudes the party's-over feel of the Italian postwar cinema to which it repeatedly refers, and Kate's sentimental reunion with characters from the previous novels offers ground for many moving reflections on the vampire/human condition. But as in the earlier novels, the most entertaining moments are those improbable get-togethers that vampire immortality makes possible between real and imaginary personalities, including Orson Welles, Edgar Allan Poe, Elisabeth Bathory, Count Cagliostro and characters who looks suspiciously like James Bond and Marcello Mastroianni. Like the blood gelatto lapped by the undead demimonde, this novel is a rich and fulfilling confection."

 

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I started with The Girl Who Chased the Moon because of the beautiful cover but Garden Spells might be the first one. They are not sequential, at least those two are not, so it doesn't matter. Pick one and prepare not to want to put it down ;)

 

Thanks, I've put Garden Spells on hold.

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I really liked that book. Tina Fey just makes me snicker.

 

 

 

Goblet of Fire was my favorite in the whole series (Order of the Phoenix was a close second).

 

And now for the big news----

 

 

I finally finished A Tale of Two Cities!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:party:

 

I know. I know. Y'all thought it would never happen, but it DID! Even though I barely made it through the first four chapters and struggled for the next 300 pages, the last 50 or so pages made it all worthwhile. What an ending!

 

Now after that heavy meal, I'm quickly devouring Leap of Faith by Jordan's Queen Noor. It's been a very interesting read so far, mostly because I was a child and teenager during most of the events described in the book. Her take on the Israel/Palestine conflict in the book is very eye opening as well.

 

 

:party: Isn't Dickens wonderful? CONGRATULATIONS!

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I finished How to Live: Or the Life of Montaigne by Sarah Blakewell.

 

It's a biography of sorts of Renaissance era writer/philosopher Michel de Montaigne. Written in an interesting question and answer format, it focuses on excerpts from Montaigne's famous Essays.

 

I found it interesting and will probably pick up Montaigne's Essays, which I have not read.

 

Not sure what I'll start now. I did pick up The Rule of Four from the thrift store the other day, so I might give that a go.

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I finished Fellowship of the Ring, which I didn't have time to read this week. :tongue_smilie: It was so much better than I remembered it! Now to see how Two Towers goes ...

 

My 2011 Reviews:

 

1. Her Daughter's Dream - Francine Rivers

2. Island of the World - Michael O'Brien (AMAZING!)

3. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress - Rhoda Janzen

4. Cinderella Ate My Daughter - Peggy Orenstein

5. Devil's Cub - Georgette Heyer

6. Keeping a Nature Journal - Clare Walker Leslie and Charles E Roth.

7. Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization (Audio Book) - Anthony Esolen

8. Excellent Women - Barbara Pym

9. The Abyssinian - Jean-Christophe Rufin

10. In the Company of Others - Jan Karon

11. One Thousand Gifts - Ann Voskamp

12. Regency Buck - Georgette Heyer

13. Bath Tangle - Georgette Heyer

14. The Convenient Marriage - Georgette Heyer

15. The Organized Heart - Staci Eastin

16. Your Home: A Place of Grace - Susan Hunt

17. Christian Encounters: Jane Austen - Peter Leithart

18. Bambi: A Life in the Woods - Victor Salten

19. Aunt Jane's Hero - Elizabeth Prentiss

20. The Magician's Nephew (Audio Book) - C.S. Lewis

21. The Horse and His Boy (Audio Book) - C.S. Lewis

22. Beauty for Truth's Sake - Stratford Caldecott

23. A Mother's Rule of Life - Holly Pierlot

24. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

25. Persuasion - Jane Austen

26. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

27. Real Love for Real Life - Andi Ashworth

28. Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies - Marilyn Chandler McEntyre

29. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction - Alan Jacobs

30. The Help - Kathryn Stockett

31. The Waiting Sands - Susan Howatch

32. Prince Caspian (Audio Book) - C.S. Lewis

33. Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien (review forthcoming)

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Hmmm ... I didn't know that ... do tell :bigear:

 

 

RE: The TWTM unofficial reading list...it's very unofficial. For instance, earlier this year, The Help made the rounds, right now Allen is hot. Just seems like a book will be recommended and then it's getting lots of discussion time on the boards and lots of folks will get to reading it. Rosie's the one who first used this terminology (to my knowledge). And fwiw I find some of my best reads from this thread!

 

We've been devouring the Wrinkle in Time books this week- we're on our 3rd read-aloud.

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RE: The TWTM unofficial reading list...it's very unofficial. For instance, earlier this year, The Help made the rounds, right now Allen is hot. Just seems like a book will be recommended and then it's getting lots of discussion time on the boards and lots of folks will get to reading it. Rosie's the one who first used this terminology (to my knowledge). And fwiw I find some of my best reads from this thread!

 

We've been devouring the Wrinkle in Time books this week- we're on our 3rd read-aloud.

 

Ah, OK. That I see ... I read The Help late, then. And I put an Allen book on hold at the library ;) There were certainly a couple I read this year because of this thread!

 

I love Madeleine L'Engle ... I'm enjoying following your adventures through your blog. I read Summer of the Great Grandmother when I was in High School, it's probably time to re-read. I read many in the Austin family (is that Chronos or Kairos? I always get them backwards) last year and almost picked up A Severed Wasp to read a couple of weeks ago. I may have to look in the Non-Fiction section next, though.

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